acrylic case questions

[zsa]

I start out trying to simply quiet down some noisy machines and I wind up Pimpin' my PC.

Since I'm shopping for acrylic cases, does anyone know if they are quieter on average than the standard metal case? Less vibration, perhaps?

I've read that they tend to be hotter internally due to poor heat conductance. How big a problem is that?

Also, I've read that some components, particularly hard drives, may build up a static charge if they aren't ground to the case. Do components without a common ground via the case have shorter life spans?

 

[groovin]

how quiet they are should depend on the overall build quality which can vary.

yes, they are hotter as far as i know. it could be a big problem if you dont get enough case fans in there! which also brings me back to the issue of noise... acrylic cases will probaly require more case fans... case fans = noise. ive overheated a few chips in the past... not fun.

im not an electrical guy, but without grounding i would think that the HD has no means (or less of) a way to discharge a power surge or might be more prone to getting hit by a surge because of the excess static. now there should be some grounding provided by the power connector, which grounds to your PSU, but as i said, im not an electrical guy. =)

 

[L00PY]

Acrylic cases are just like any other case in most ways -- quality of build means everything.

If it's poorly made, you can have bits that rattle. This is true for steel and aluminum cases too.

Heat transfer through the actual case material is inconsequential with decent airflow (heatpipe cases aside). This is true for steel and aluminum too.

If you're buying a cheap mass market case with a single exhaust fan, it's going to be noisy and run hot regardless of whether it's made of steel, aluminum, acrylic, wood, plastic, or tissue paper.

Static is a slightly different matter but it shouldn't be something to be overly concerned about. Some case designs don't ground the components to the case. Some of the HTPC crowd and silent freaks use dampening methods that don't ground to the case either.

Worse thing about acrylic is that they can really highlight the dust (on the inside too).